Does Chemistry seem like something which only eccentric people with haggard looks in white lab coats can do? Why do we take up Chemistry tuition in Singapore? Is Chemistry really that important in our daily lives? It is undeniable that our bodies are made of chemicals. We cannot do without Chemistry in Singapore or anywhere around the world in fact. Simple things like eating, drinking or breathing of the air around us results in chemical reactions taking place.
All physical matter, living or not, are made of some kind of chemicals. Therefore, Chemistry is the study of everything essentially!
How does Chemistry take place in our daily lives in Singapore?
The most obvious place to look at is in the kitchen. When we whip up something scrumptious for our meals, the raw meat after going through some chemical process as a result of the heat turns into cooked meat, that allows our bodies to absorb nutrients better. When we have so much spare time during Covid-19 and cannot travel outside of Singapore, we can turn to hobbies like baking a cake. During the process of baking a cake, the raw ingredients mixed together will result in a chemical reaction to produce the batter. Yet another chemical reaction takes place when the processed batter goes into the oven. Even storage of food in the refrigerator to keep them fresh are due to the delay and absence of undesirable chemical reactions.
Where do you see applications of Chemistry in daily life?
Another common activity where Chemistry happens is when we decide to clean our house or wash ourselves up. Chemical products like dishwashing liquid are used for our dishes, bleach is used for laundry and soap and shampoo are used for our body. Imagine using bleach to wash your body! Even Singaporean children know better not to use bleach to wash themselves, which means that the moment we start learning about what cleaning products to use, we are already junior chemists!
Medicine is another vital product of Chemistry. The pills that we consume when we are sick are all made from chemicals to kill off bacteria and viruses in our body. Health supplements are a billion dollar industry and contain essential chemicals that help make our immune system stronger and live healthier lives. Basically, without medicine from doctors in Singapore, we would get sick very often. Chemistry is also used for the research and development of new medicines. Imagine a hundred years ago, when people could easily succumb to the common cold. Then penicillin was invented and antibiotics resulted in a drastic drop in fatalities as a result of common ailments.
Chemistry is also an integral part of our environment. Fertilisers and composts for our green city of Singapore are created when chemical reactions take place. Think about how cow or horse dungs are used to fertilise plants in the past. People were doing it for centuries before scientists discovered how it actually works and managed to create artificial fertilisers which have solved a large part of our agricultural needs. So even though farmers did not study Chemistry like present day students in Singapore, they were really good chemists without realising it!
Presence and issues regarding Chemistry in Singapore
But there are more serious issues to look at in Singapore. Like how some chemicals are hazardous to the environment and others cause pollution. Only through studying Chemistry can we begin to discover ways to produce chemicals that are sustainable and not harmful to the natural world.
In summary, we are all chemists during our daily interactions in life, from cooking food to cleaning ourselves and we see Chemistry everywhere whether we like it or not. That is why at The Chemistry Lab, our tutors believe in showing our students the importance of Chemistry in real life when they come for our Chemistry tuition lessons. We try to make Chemistry tuition as fun-filled and interesting as possible through demonstrations conducted in class and simplify concepts so that students will walk away from our Chemistry tuition class, feeling like they have gained knowledge in areas that may not be taught in conventional education in schools.